There He Goes Again

If the oldest still active (pace) political party in the world had not nominated him for President of the United States, we would leave Senator John Kerry alone. Anyone who must simultaneously be both "the other guy from Massachusetts" and "the other guy who married Terry Heinz," has enough problems.

But they did, so we won't.

According to The New York Times:

A Roman Catholic who has struggled at times to talk about his own faith, Mr. Kerry also told the group that he believed "deeply in my faith" and that the Koran, the Torah, the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles had influenced a social conscience that he exercised in politics.

"I will tell you, nowhere in there, nowhere, not in one page, not in one phrase uttered and reported by the Lord Jesus Christ, can you find anything that suggests that there is a virtue in cutting children from Medicaid and taking money from the poor and giving it to the rich," Mr. Kerry said.

Which prompts Martin Peretz of The New Republic to allow that he'd give Kerry the benefit of the doubt, and suggest that The Lord never mentioned Medicare at all. Peretz goes on:

My God, what bullshit politicians feel obliged to utter! Or maybe the bullshit is already second nature, or even first. But since Kerry raised it, let me ask: What hadith of the Prophet influenced him the most, and why? And here I have a personal interest: Which of the injunctions of Leviticus and who among the Prophets have the most meaning for him? Ordinarily, of course, I wouldn't ask such personal questions of a politician. In the spirit of Jesus, Kerry will certainly forgive me for doing so.